Infinate Blossom
by Pernshinigami
Summary: Yaoi warning, DPPernGatekeeper's cross. Danny isn't just a ghost, he's a gatekeeper. Then Valerie takes him and Dash to Pern, then chaos and mating flights and firelizards break loose at Eastern Weyr. DannyTucker
1. Chapter 1

Since Anne Mc Caffrey is /OFF/ the banned authors list I am assuming that that means we're allowed to do Dragonriders of Pern fanfiction and I'm writing a gatekeeper fic with an Anne Mc Caffrey cross in it so there:P

The dream, it was so... real... Danny once more found himself in the realm of blackness. Three cherry trees stood out of the darkness so complete, that Danny thought he really /had/ died, instead of just being a half ghost.

The scent of the cherry blossoms was heady on the air. And a handful of them fluttered on an invisible, indetectable breeze. Hanging from each tree was a different artifact. A bronze mirror, a silver string of diamonds as cold as the moon, and a golden sword with a dragon's claw and opalescent orb clutched in that claw. Then the cherry blossoms became so thick that they obscured their source.

When the blizzard of blossoms finally disappeared, instead of a tree with an artifact, three groups of three people each stood under the tree. Where the mirror tree had been Tucker, Sam and a shadowy figure that Danny couldn't make out stood back to back. Where the diamond tree had been stood Vlad, his mother, and... again, a shadowy figure that Danny couldn't make out. And finally, where the sword tree had been, stood Valerie, Dash, and... Danny? Danny was in his ghost form, and was carrying a sword!

Danny sat up straight in bed in a cold sweat. His mother was knocking on the door. "Danny! Wake up! Or you'll be late!"

"Coming mom!"

At school  
Mr. Lancer was waiting for them at the board when they had English first period. "Sit down, everyone. Our latest unit will start with Japanese Mythology, and will end with a paper on Sei Shonagons the Pillow Book or Murasaki's The Tale of Genji /or/ the The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi." He said with his usual growl. "And if I find anybody sleeping, whispering, or passing notes in class they will have detention, where they will be writing Japanese Symbols on the Board for me."

Danny groaned and then got hit in the head with a cleverly tossed crumpled piece of paper from Dash.

Danny growled softly at Dash. But there was nothing he could do in front of Lancer, who was busy drawing Kanji on the board. "The Japanese have three alphabets; Katakana, Hiragana, and Kanji. Their art has several symbols and their mythology has hundreds, perhaps even thousands of deities. There are only a few that you'll need to memorize for the test."

The board had three sets of Kanji, drawn in a triangle. "The Japanese have a trinity of Gods that are said to be the ancestors of the Emperor. Amataratsu; Goddess of the Sun, Tsuki Yomi; God of the Moon, and Susonoo; god of Storms. Amataratsu's sacred animal is the raven and every Emperor or Emperess is given copies of three sacred artifacts, a bronze mirror, a sword, and a string jewels..."

Danny had been about to fall asleep, when the words, "Bronze mirror, sword and string of jewels" cut through his drowsiness.

"In addition, there are four sacred animals, Seiryuu the azure dragon, is a Japanese equivalent to the imperial dragon of China. He is associated with storms, rivers, and the direction East. Suzaku the black Phoenix is the leader of the four, and is the God of the southern direction, fires, and lakes. Byakko, the white Tiger, is the god of the West, mountains, and is associated with wind. Genbu, the Turtle, is the God of the North, associated with forests and the element of Earth."

Danny was listening very hard now. How could a symbol he'd never known about appear in his dreams?

"There are seven Gods and Goddesses associated with the professions of the common people of the Feudal Era. Benten is the Goddess of the arts, rides a white dragon, and is known to Western Mythologists as a triple Goddess, one who takes the form of a youth, a mother, or an old lady, Bishamon is the God of war, and appears as a mounted Samurai with a pagoda statue in his hand, Daikoku is the God of wealth and associated with Farmers he will often be pictured with a sack of rice and rats are his sacred animal. Ebisu is the God of Fishermen, an important deity for an island nation such as Japan. Fukurokuju is the God of Wisdom, good luck, and longevity. His symbols are a stag, a tortoise and a crane. Hotei is the God of laughter and happiness, shown with a pipe, and carrying a bag of rice. Jurojin is the last one, the god of the elderly, because the elderly were revered in Japan."

"There is a pair of weather deities called Taka-Okami and Kura-Okami, each take the form of a wolf. Taka Okami is a god of rain, and Kura Okami is a god of snow, who takes the form of a wolf with wings."

"The final deity I will mention is Daruma, a deified patron of Buddhist Monks. It was Daruma who brought Buddhism to Japan. Who can tell me what Deified means?" And Lancer droned on...

But the lesson left Danny with a feeling of dread...

"Danny, are you okay?" Sam asked worriedly.

"What makes you ask?" Danny asked as he walked exhaustedly down the street with Sam and Tucker. "I've been having perpetual… well… they aren't nightmares, but they're weird dreams. And then Lancer assigns not just one, but three books that I haven't even heard of, and then talks about three symbols I'd never heard of that, none the less, appear in my dreams."

"Oh dear." Sam sighed as she peered curiously at Danny. "I'll bet Jazz would know something about dreams. Have you asked her?"

"No, and I don't want to." Danny said crossly. "It was just… weird and I don't want her to psycho analyze it."

The two of them exchanged a look. That was when Valerie came running over. "Danny, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Er… hi Valerie…" Danny said with a nervous smile.

"I don't think its anything that can't be said around us?" Sam asked with an arch of her eyebrow.

"Depends." Valerie said calmly as she held out a small pendant. "I have mine, do either of you know what this is?" She asked with a glare in at both of them.

"no way." Sam gasped as she regarded Valerie. "You too? I had no idea the other cell was so close."

"That's because there are almost as many shadows wandering this city as there are ghosts."

"I know what it is too, so what?" Tucker asked, as both he and Sam held up pendants of their own.

"Er… what's going on here?"

"Valerie, walk with us. I thought it was odd that neither the Lord nor the Lady had tapped Danny." Sam said in an all business tone.

"Well Benten did, because he's certainly not in your cell." Agreed Valerie. "To the park?"

"Definitely."

Along the way Danny listened to Sam and Tucker chatter. "Okay, so do you have his key?" Sam asked once they got to the park.

"Yup, but he doesn't get it until we're /aaaaallll/ done." Valerie replied as she pulled the pendant from around her neck.

Sam closed her eyes, focusing on her own pendant, hanging from her hands, point towards the ground.

Tucker's eyes had gone blank, vacant as he focused also.

Then the three of them chorused. "By the strength of the Gods, by the Grace and Power of the Dragon Masters. Reveal my true nature!"

Energy rings covered all three, so bright that Danny couldn't see them for a moment. Then the light cleared. Danny blinked.

Sam was wearing a Japanese Miko's uniform, Black and sapphirine blue. Half a dragon's mask was slung over her face by an equally sapphirine hairband, almost like a headdress. A bow and quiver of arrows were strung over one shoulder, in addition to her pendant which had transformed into a rapier with a dragon on it.

Tucker was wearing an outfit that was at once ornate and simple at the same time His hair was slightly longer and the hat had become an ornately carved wooden black fox Mask, which sat on the top of his head, ready to be pulled down and protect his face in danger. You could see his eyes through the eyeholes, and the mask covered half his face instead of his whole face. He also had a sword, a long almost sickle like blade made of bronze, which had come from his pendant as well.

Valerie's outfit had changed also, instead of a normal outfit she wore a red dress reminiscent of an Egyptian queen. Ornate, sanguine red and midnight black, winglike attachments hung from her arms and the back of the dress, with shimmering feathers. Instead of a sword, she had a glave.

Danny rubbed his eyes once, then again. "Wait a minute, what is going on here?" Danny demanded.

"A full transformation is what. A gatekeeper in true command of their power can affect a transformation into spirit form." Explained Valerie. "There's a network of dimensions, and a network of gates between them, and gatekeepers are the warriors trained in protecting those dimensions."

"And it's not easy. Just like there are ghosts here, there are shadows as well." Explained Sam. "The Shadows are created from the negative emotions and psychological issues of people." She explained. "They can travel dimensions easily and they're /way/ more powerful than any ghost ever will be.

"And because so many of the ghosts in the ghost zone have issues, and because we're the easiest to reach, Shadows from the ghost zone reach us. A /lot/ of them. So we need only the best as gatekeepers." Finished Tucker.

"And Benten and Suzaku have chosen you as the next gatekeeper in my Cell. Especially after both my apprentice and Journeyman got themselves killed. So I end up having to train you and Dash as my apprentices. I've already taken care of him." And all three of them changed back to their normal forms in unison.

"Wait a minute! I have to work with Dash?" Danny squeaked, groaning in irritation.

"Yup." Valerie sighed. "And unlike Lancer, I don't turn a blind eye to bullying."

"Swell, I am /so/ reassured." Danny said with a gulp.

"Are you /sure/ you're not asking too much of Danny?" Sam asked with a sarcastic smirk.

Tucker rolled his eyes. "I don't think we are." He said with a meaningful look Sam's way.

Sam sighed and rolled her eyes. "So what do we do now?" She asked.

"Well, for one thing Danny, here's your gatekey." Valerie fished a pendant from her pocket. She handed it to Danny. Danny took the small object, and turned it around and around between his fingers. It had, not a dragon or phoenix's head, like Valerie's or Sam's, but a silver and black Tiger's. "Yours is special." Valerie explained. "That's all Benten said. But usually pendants with a symbol /other/ than a dragon or a phoenix indicates that you're stronger than an other gatekeepers."

"So what's after this? He's training with you and Dash? How often?" Sam asked. Good point. What if a ghost attacked while he was training?

Dash came running then, a pair of katana strapped to his belt. "Valerie! I came! Wait a second… Fenton? You're in on this too?"

"I'd prefer if you call me Danny." Danny said, disgustedly. "And I'm as upset as you are over these arrangements."

"What makes you think I'm upset?" Dash demanded. "It means that you're growing spine Fenton!" He said with visible glee. "That's my major problem with you, even when I beat you up you never fight back."

"Like I'm supposed to fight back against a tank?" Danny asked archly. "And it's /Danny./"

"I'll call you what I like. Valerie can we get going?"

"Where are you headed?" Asked Sam.

"Pern." Replied Valerie. "We need to get them a familiar."

"But I've gotten along without a familiar." Pointed out Sam.

"I like to keep my boys, or girls, in touch Sam. The firelizards of Pern would be able to do that. They can go between and be anywhere in seconds. They're empathic yes, but that's only a little bit of a drawback and /every/ strength." Valerie explained.

Sam sighed. "Tucker, do you think we should tag along?"

"Where Danny goes we do." Tucker said calmly as he slipped his gatekey under his shirt again and straightened his hat. "man, I just can't get used to wearing a mask instead of a hat."

"Great, we're going to Cove Hold, see you on the other side." Valerie said with a grin as she extended her gatekey once more and slashed a hole in space. "Come on boys. This is your first portal into the Aether, and whatever you do, don't touch /anything./"

Danny stepped through Valerie's portal. As soon as he had, he was floating in space. He was floating through blackness towards a gate. Other objects floated around him. Cherry blossoms, a scroll sealed in silver wax, a golden chalice marked with a symbol that he vaguely recalled as a triple Goddess symbol, a very menacing looking black scythe, a small metal figure of an organoid floating in mid air, a black communicator from the Teen Titans universe, a beyblade made of pure gold, a ribbon cup made of silver, an opalescent Digivice, a set of Tarot cards bound with a red pendant (probably Escaflowne) lots of objects that Danny recognized from cartoons, and others from books, like a spellbook marked with the sigil from Diadem, a goosegg net from the Talent Saga, a long, wicked looking fang, a unicorn's horn, a magic wand. Mindful of Valerie's warning he was careful not to touch anything.

Valerie nodded to Dash and Danny. "In the Aether there are many objects to sidetrack you. Touch them, and they open into a portal and suck you in." She explained as she pointed to the silver ribbon cup. "They're usually colored silver, gold or black. Silver for the moon, gold for the sun, black for storms. Some of them aren't. Be careful of that one." She pointed to a silver circlet with a bright sapphirine gemstone in it. "That one's about to open up. It leads to the Rayearth Universe. Watch."

Three figures, vaguely visible as female, each dressed in a different color, green, red, blue. A fourth with tanned bronze skin followed them. They floated towards the silver ribbon cup. Slowly they came into focus and Danny recognized them, with shock, as the Magic Knights and Caldina, from Magic Knight Rayearth. Hikaru paused, waved, and then gathered around the silver ribbon cup with her friends. The four of them reached out to touch it and disappeared.

"Come on, I've opened the arch. When you make your portals, have a /very/ clear intent on where you want to go. It will appear to you as a portal and not as an object. That's how you know where to go." Valerie explained. "To everybody else the archway looks like a Harp carved in the shape of a dragon." She told them as she paused at the entrance. "Hurry, the spell only lasts so long."

Danny quickly floated through. Dash followed him and then Valerie kicked her heals together to activate her jetboard and swoop through, and the portal closed behind them.

Danny came out on a beach, the cleanest most pristine beach that he'd ever seen. The sand was powdery and pure white beneath his sneakers. The jungle was a riot of colors and shapes of all kinds, enough to keep a biologist busy for a lifetime. The sun was just barely setting in the tropical sky. Three bright stars were visible above them, flaring brightly in the setting sun, and a malevolent sanguine red star shone out in the sky. Clouds gathered on the horizon, but didn't threaten rain for a good long time.

Valerie and Dash were just collecting their wits. But there was no sign of Sam and Tucker. "Hey, where are Sam and Tucker?"

"They're going to meet us at Cove remember?" Valerie replied. "As far as I know they'll be coming to Cove from the opposite direction. In the meantime we have to get going." She led the way along the beach, on her hover board. Danny resented the fact that she had one, but he followed her and Dash reluctantly.

Valerie was quickly sizing up the situation. She was utterly aware of her surroundings. If the sky threatened thread, then the animals around them would know before she did. In the meantime she had to keep her eyes open.

Dash was looking around him, just as curious as Danny was. He'd once gotten into detention with the English teacher that subbed for Lancer when the bald headed teacher had gotten the flu once, and had to read Dragonsinger from cover to cover before he was allowed to leave. He knew about thread, and he knew about dragons and he definitely knew about firelizards. "So this is Pern." He commented.

"That's right, and we need to get going to Cove Hold. Be careful of thorny plants, jungle snakes, wherries and anything that has a stinger, unless you want to become an amputee that is." Valerie said with a smirk at both boys.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a golden blur went zipping down at Dash, pecking at his face. "Yaaah! Firelizard!" He squeaked as he stepped back, once, twice, three paces before the queen firelizard landed on the beach sands, coiled around a mound of sand and egg and snarling at Dash, Danny, Valerie, and anybody who dared disturb her nest.

"Easy, we aren't going to hurt you." Valerie said, pulling something out of her backpack. It was a wrapped package, obviously from a deli counter somewhere. "I brought lizard snacks, just in case we ran into an angry queen and a clutch about to hatch." She explained as she unwrapped a portion of the package. "I told the butcher I got these from that they were for my dog, a little white lie never hurt anybody when it comes to gatekeeper relations with non gatekeepers." She said with a wink.

The contents were animal guts, chopped up into small cubes. "eeeeew." Danny commented when he saw them.

"Lizard lure." Valerie said with a smirk.

"Sam would freak out."

"Oh I know she would, but what she doesn't know, doesn't hurt her." Valerie replied as she pulled out a chunk of meat. "Hey lady, see this? I got you something." Valerie said as she held out the piece of meat. She set a handful of them a good way away from the nest. Pacified, the queen allowed the trio to look at her eggs.

Valerie carefully brushed away the top of the mound of sand covering the eggs. She pulled out an empty backpack and a pair of packs that, when activated, produced instant heat. She placed them in the bottom of the pack and, one eye on the queen, started putting the eggs into the sack. The queen saw what they were doing and then squeaked protest, headbutting Valerie in the chest before disappearing between, reappearing over Dash's head, and yanking at his hair with her talons.

Danny felt a wave of empathic rage wash over him. Coming directly from the firelizard. He cried out softly, wobbling away from the wild queen with one heck of a headache. Then the queen screeched loud enough to rip his soul, or so it seemed to Danny. Then she disappeared and the feeling passed. Danny was left on his hands and knees, panting.

Valerie gave him a sympathetic look. "Danny? Are you okay?"

"I could… there was a wave of rage, and then anguish and…" Danny panted as he slowly, carefully got to his feet.

"Firelizards are empathic." Explained Valerie as another queen, slightly smaller, landed on her shoulder and curled a tail possessively around her neck. "Guys, meet Zulima, my queen firelizard." The firelizard chirped at Danny and rubbed her cheek against Valerie's cheek. "What surprises me Danny is that you felt the firelizard emotions so strongly. Normal humans don't have that much empathy." She explained as she lead the others along the beach.

Danny mentally added. /But a ghost might./

Dash rolled his eyes at this. "Aren't there some humans who can speak to dragons? Maybe Danny's one of those?" He suggested.

"I doubt it." Valerie replied. "First of all most of the people alive who hear dragons are girls. Only one of them is male, Master Harper Robinton, and that is /not/ common knowledge. Second of all, some of the original settlers here were genetically altered with a substance called Mentasynth that makes people telepathic. The telepathic traits, while probably recessive, still crop up from time to time in the modern Pernese. However, since you can't /get/ mentasynth anymore, since the aliens who made it, the Eridanis were wiped out by the Nathis there's no more way to get mentasynth. So there's no way that Danny could have been altered by it." Valerie explained. "Now I suggest we drop the topic." Valerie finished putting the firelizard eggs into the sack and stood up. Then she bristled and looked around. Slipping the backpack on her back she knocked her heals together and activated her hover board. Zulima shrieked in fear and disappeared. And the air was so still, as if the world were holding its breath. "You two get on… now! It's coming!"

"What?" Danny demanded. "What is?"

"Thread! Can't you boys feel it? The stillness? I was worried about this." Dash was smart enough to climb on behind Valerie and Danny quickly did as he was told. "I knew this would happen. I should have done some threadfall calcs to see if the area was safe." She started speeding along the beach, heading /towards/ a low, gray mist on the horizon. "We have to find a cave, or a body of water, able to shield us for fifteen minutes. Thread will have passed over us by then." Valerie's eyes were wild in fear.

Sure enough, the mist descended and separated and suddenly flashes of fire were visible, along with the glint of bronze, brown, blue, green and gold. "Benden! The Benden wings have met thread! Or I think that's Benden." Dash added.

"Ijit. Shut your mouth and let me fly!" Valerie growled as the two boys hung on. But thread was close, too close, and then it was there! The silver strands hissed on the sand. One missed, then another, but the third caught Danny across the shoulder and arm.

Danny just couldn't take it any more. "Going ghost…" He muttered, just before Dash shoved him into the water. Danny transformed under water and felt the threads melt way, hissing. Fish rippled through the water and suddenly with a squee a dolphin lifted the transformed/barely conscious Danny Phantom from the water.

Valerie let out a shriek of shock, then she knelt by Danny, tears in her eyes and brushing away a stray lock of hair from his face, and this was the last thing he saw before he blacked out.

When Danny's eyes cracked open again he could /not/ believe what he was seeing. The being kneeling over him had short, thick black hair. Her skin was pale, almost silvery, wings extended from her arms and an odd crest hung around her neck. She wore a black and silver jumpsuit that had that odd, three moon symbol on it in an abyssal blue shade. A simple headband pulled back her hair.

"Hnnn…"

"Danny! Thank goodness you're alright!" The being gasped, tears in her eyes.

That's when Danny recognized the "being" "Mom?"

Maddie smiled a small crook of a smile that Danny had never seen on her. "Yes, this is my spirit form. And if Valerie had only /asked/ me to do the calculations before taking you here I could have /told/ her that thread was due."

"You're a gatekeeper?" Danny's eyes were wide, still not comprehending that A. His secret was out. B. His mother was a gatekeeper.

"That's right, since I was very young. Myself, Jack and Vlad were a Benten cell. But Vlad split off after your father and I got married and Jack hung up his sword, for good. I've tried convincing him to come back. He refused, though he was very worried about you." She added.

"Mom…" Danny reached up to hug his mother. His arm wouldn't move, the whole appendage felt heavy and deadened. "My arm…" Tears filled his eyes.

"It's just numbweed. The Pernese use a salve for an anesthetic. And…" A tear slipped from her eyes. "You wouldn't want to see your arm right now. You were a mess when the Eastern Wings brought you in. All over a clutch of firelizard eggs! Oh I could skin Valerie right now!" Maddie's tears were both relief, worry and anger. "And then you…. Hiding that you were Danny Phantom all this time… it must have hurt… I must have hurt you with all my talk about hunting ghosts…"

"You know…"

"Valerie said she knew the signs. Ghosts have increased empathy, and when the dolphins plucked you from the water you were bleeding ghost ichor, not human blood. Honey, you transformed while you were unconscious, and being a ghost was probably the only thing that saved your life in that fall." Maddie stroked Danny's hair tenderly as his tears came. "I'm so sorry… I should have noticed too… I should have said something to Jack… just… how…?"

"The portal…" Danny said, finally letting his tears go. "I tried to make it work, and it shocked me!" Danny sobbed into his mother's shoulder. "When I woke up, I was like this… I learned to hide it…. I did my best…"

Maddie nodded, wrapping those two wings around Danny, who shuddered. "And I should have come forward to you. But I thought, since you weren't a gatekeeper and didn't appear to be a ghost, that I should wait. Nearly all ghosts know about the gatekeepers. So even if I had found out I would have assumed…" Maddie sighed in disgust

Danny was having one of those moments where he didn't want his mother to let go. Because some tiny little part of him, Danny the child, was honestly scared, both of himself and the thread that had almost killed him.

"Heyla!" Came a call into the room. "Go right in sirs, and ladies." Was added politely.

Maddie set Danny down just in time to see his father, his sister, Vlad, Dash, Sam and Tucker come barreling through the door. "Huh? Dad? Jazz? Sam? Tucker? And Vlad… what are you doing here?"

"We came to make sure you're alright. Not everybody survives a threadscore." Vlad said archly.

"What he said, you really should calculate whether or not there's a threadfall /before/ you visit this world. And the ocean is the worst place to be, because the dragons don't always fight over the seashore." Pointed out Dash.

"Whatever that meant…" Danny muttered.

"It's simple son." Jack pointed out as he took a seat on a couch in the guest weyr. "The natives here found out that you could calculate when the thread you saw is supposed to come and where. By their calculations thread was supposed to be over cove early yesterday."

Vlad pinned Jack with a look, as though not expecting an intelligent explanation from him. Jazz shuddered. "May I see your arm Danny?" She asked.

"Sure, there isn't much to see, it's all covered in bandages and I can't move it. It doesn't hurt though." Danny paused. "What do you /mean/ yesterday?" He demanded.

"Ah, the glories of numbweed." Jack agreed. "Smells nasty, but by spooks it works!"

"You were out a whole day." Tucker shuddered. "And if you unwrap your arm your wounds were nasty. Sorry to have a bad bedside manner but its true."

"And you hiding from Master Healer Oldive didn't help either." Sam pointed out.

Tucker glared at her. "I can't help having a fear of doctors. And he looked /creepy./"

"But he saved Danny's /life/ Tucker." Pointed out Sam. "Otherwise he'd /be/ a ghost by now…" She gulped and clapped a hand over her mouth.

"It's okay." Valerie sighed as she told Sam. "I figured it out. It wasn't too hard considering that when he came up he was bleeding ghost ichor instead of human blood. You know what they say, blood doesn't lie."

Danny groaned. "So basically my secret's out." He sighed.

"Basically." Said Vlad with a roll of his eyes. "You really should be more careful about the secrets you keep."

"Don't tell me you knew about this?" Maddie demanded.

"What? Me? Of course not!" Vlad replied. "Just that a person with a secret to keep should be careful."

Maddie glared at Vlad and grabbed both him and Jack and dragged them both out of the room. "The three of us are going to have a loooooonnnngggg talk."

"Somebody's gotten her feathers ruffled." Was the last comment heard from Vlad before they were out of sight, but a loud smack could be heard along with Vlad whining "oooowwww…"

"It also explains a thing or two to me." Valerie said with a sigh as she took a seat on one of the benches.

"What do you mean?" Jazz asked as she took a seat next to Danny on the bed.

"I mean that Danny was super sensitive to firelizard emotions. The lizards are empathic. One of them got mad at Danny and he almost collapsed from it." Valerie explained. "About fifty percent of ghosts are empaths, about a tenth of those are hypersensitive to empathic and telepathic emanations. That's how people like Freak Show were able to control ghosts. He tapped into their emotions and the rest is gothic history. Danny's very likely an empath, and the sense hasn't consciously shown through yet."

"Wouldn't it be my luck if I turned out to be hyperempath?" Danny asked grumpily.

"Oh come on, I'd love to be able to read minds, if only so that it would help me understand the girls." Tucker said with a grin.

Danny grunted and turned his back to Tucker.

Sam sighed and turned to Jazz for help. "Danny this is no time to be surly."

"This is every time to be surly." Replied Danny. "I'm stuck in bed. People are going to notice my absence and I can't use my left arm. The numbweed's deadened everything. I can barely move it! And… there are other things…"

"What other things?" Tucker asked curiously.

"Nothing I want to talk about…" Danny muttered.

Sam pulled Tucker, Valerie, Dash and Jazz aside. "This is not good, sometimes when people are injured, the issues they have with the injury, as well as a lot of pent up emotion, can create a shade. All it's going to take is an emotional trigger and we'll have an evil version of Danny flying around causing mischief. And depending on how strong the emotion turns out to be, it will be /really/ strong."

"Why don't we keep a watch on him. Tucker, you can go first." Valerie suggested.

"Why me?" Tucker demanded.

"Because you're Tucker Foley and you're stupid." Replied Dash as he shoved Tucker towards Danny.

"Sam, Dash, Jazz, we have a meeting with the Weyrleaders." Valerie told them. "I'll have Zulima keep a watch on you two. If something goes wrong send her to me." Valerie said as she dragged the other three off.

Tucker groaned and turned back towards Danny, who was, as before, oblivious.

Outside, Talina's gold Arwith was asleep, and glowing as bright as the sun. The bronzes, eyes rippling menacingly with a very vivid violet, were in various stages of hunting. This was a leadership flight, and every bronze in the Weyr knew what was at stake. Across the Weyr riders of all colors looked up from their work.

Monarth dipped his head down towards his kill. With a slash of his mighty claws, the bronze dragon beheaded a bleating herdbeast, the head went flying, spraying crimson flame across his already burning bronze hide. The bronze bent his head to drink.

Then Arwith awoke, lust, hunger, yearning, and vicious, vicious hunger rolled over her and her rider in waves.

In the guest weyr Danny cried out, curling into a fetal position. "No…" he whispered… "no…" as the wave of lust washed over him. "oooooh…"

Zulima shrieked and disappeared between, leaving Tucker without a messenger.

Outside Arwith was bent over her kill, licking daintily at the blood and growling at the bronzes. Danny cried out as he felt the hot, fresh blood trickling down his throat. "no… no stop it…" Danny whispered. "Leave me alone…"

Tucker's attention was drawn first by the shriek and then by Danny's cry. "Danny?" He asked worriedly.

But Danny was far away, there wasn't just a rider and a dragon in that mating queen's head. There was Danny as well. Arwith took to the skies, and Danny's soul felt fit to burst with the strength of the queen's joy, not just joy, passion… lust and desire… coursed through him.

Danny cried out as he felt strong arms scoop him up and shake him slightly. Disoriented, he could see Tucker, but he was reacting as a queen would. "T… Tucker…?"

"Danny, what's wrong…? Please tell me?"

"I see… the dragons… they're…" Danny broke off with a hiss, eyes glinting madly golden, flickering between specter green, and dragon gold. He arched his back, as though he were being lifted by invisible wings. The viciousness turned to a coy, almost taunting smirk. Then he cried out. "Come on bronzer boys, you know you can do better than that… you can't even touch me… no, only one can… " Flicker green. "Tucker… can see… the dragons… oh gods it hurts…"

"I'm here buddy." Tucker pulled Danny into his arms.

"I… I think if I close my eyes, and just… let it happen… the only thing I can do… have to do… is let it happen…" Danny panted, sweat starting to bead up on his forehead and tears forming in the corner of his eyes. Danny was trying very hard to will down his feelings for Tucker. His desire was almost uncontrollable. But he /had/ to… he couldn't let anybody know who he /really/ cared about. Yet his desire was pooling between his legs, and the wind was stoking his skin to a fiery sensitivity.

Crying, Danny surrendered to the blast of emotions from Talina's Arwith. It was oddly, a freeing experience to be one with the queen, sailing through the skies flying through clouds. He had flown as himself before. But never had he felt such grace and power!

The queen wove through a cloud then, and blundered right into Monarth's waiting talons. Danny whimpered as he felt necks and tails twine. His human body was aching terribly for one person. Danny's eyes opened, glowing golden, shot through with bronze. Wordlessly, the yearning planted all over his face Danny reached up and yanked Tucker down to kiss him. "Oh Faranth… take me… free me!" Danny panted, "Tucker take me…"

Tucker gasped, but he couldn't struggle against Danny's ghostly strength. And the kiss, it felt kinda good. So much better than any girl could have managed. "Take me Tucker…" The gold slowly drained from Danny's eyes. "I need you…I need you to be part of me…the queen… I still feel her at the back of my mind… she's screaming with passion… and I need… I need…"

CUT!

Sorry, no lemon, I have the uncut version on The Ghost Sector forums, but its under restricted, you need a passcode for it. :P


	2. Chapter 2

Infinite Blossom

Panting from passionate exertion Danny reached out to nuzzle Tucker. The rushes from the mattress smelled sweet and the boys were slick with sweat. All the draconic lust had drained from Danny's mind. "Tucker…" Danny said softly. "Tucker I'm so sorry… I shouldn't have… the queen… I could feel her… she was screaming in my mind." Danny whimpered slightly.

"I'm the one who should apologize." Tucker said softly, in a whisper that hissed in Danny's ear. His arms wrapped around the halfa's waist. "I don't want anybody to know about this. I hurt you… for some reason I can sense it."

"It's physical hurt Tucker… inside I've never felt better." Danny said sleepily. He closed his eyes, still feeling the warm glow leftover from dragonroused passion. It was, he thought, his own strength combined with Tucker's. He wanted to hold onto that rosy feeling as long as he could.

"You mean you were actually aware of what was going on?" Tucker demanded. "Remember how when you went evil because of Freakshow your eyes had turned red?"

"I never noticed that." Danny said, sitting up straight and then grimacing because the numbweed was starting to wear off.

"Well Sam and I noticed, every time you turn evil your eyes go from green to red. And when the whatever it was happened your eyes went from green to gold. Like, metallic gold. Like dragon gold." Tucker pointed out, tenderly running a hand through Danny's pure white hair.

"Tucker…" Danny said softly. "I had feelings for you even before this… it doesn't /matter/ to me!" He insisted.

"It matters to me!" Tucker protested. "If you weren't in your right mind that's borderline rape."

"I wanted it in the first place it was consensual." Danny argued. "I /LIKED/ it Tucker, and I /WANTED/ it." He glared.

That was about the point that Sam poked her head in, saw the clothing on the floor and growled at the boys. "Real smooth guys." She growled. "Danny, you could have /told/ me you were planning on sleeping with Tucker…"

Danny groaned. "Sam it's not what it looks like."

"To hell its not." She growled, tossing Danny his jumpsuit, which was still on the floor. Tucker's hat went flying across the room and hit him in the head.

"Sam something went wrong. You know how Valerie said that Danny was sensitive empathically?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"One of the dragon queens went into heat." Danny growled. "It's emotions… just too much…" Danny said with a sigh as he flopped back in the bed. He looked over at Sam.

"So you're saying you weren't responsible?" Sam asked with an arch of her eyebrow.

"It's more than that Sam. I /love/ Tucker." Danny sighed as a couple of tears escaped his eyes. They felt cold on his cheeks, and turned the declaration into a plea.

Sam looked pityingly at the two boys. "Alright, I'm sorry. It wasn't your fault either of you. I came to tell you, according to Mirrim's Path the firelizards will be hatching sometime tonight, probably around dinner time. Now at least get yourselves covered. Mirrim's coming to check your wounds Danny."

Danny moved his injured arm and hissed. Tucker had been as gentle as he could in their lovemaking, but when numbweed wears off it wears off. And the salve, which had felt cool and numb against Danny's skin when he'd woken up, was now hot, itchy, and the pain was coming back. Danny growled and used his other hand to reach for his jumpsuit. "Great, how long am I going to have to stay in ghost shape in order to keep from confusing the natives?" Danny demanded as he pulled on his clothes and changed back. The T-shirt was more comfortable on his shoulder, but a threadscore is a threadscore and they hurt.

"That's up to you." Sam said, she had turned away and closed her eyes. "Can I look now?"

"Yeah." Danny peered at the bandaged shoulder. Blood, with a hint of something green, was seeping through the bandage. "Er… why is my blood green?"

"It's ichor." Sam replied as she turned around. "It must be left over from the transformation."

Danny was trembling hard, he had to sit down. That was when Mirrim knocked on the door. "Danny?" She called gently. "There you are. I'm Mirrim. My green Path brought you in." She paused. "That you're sitting up is a good sign. Your mother was worried sick about you. I had to send Reppa, Lok and Tolly through the aether to get to her."

"Who?" Danny asked as this strange girl, about eighteen or nineteen and about a handspan shorter than Dash walked in with a medical kit.

"My firelizards." Explained Mirrim. "They make excellent messengers." She laid out several jars on the bedside table. Danny gulped, several of them smelled okay, but one of them was pungent, astringent, and a rich blood red sort of potion in a vial bothered him big time. Then Mirrim was undoing the bandages. The dried blood hurt as Mirrim separated the blood ichor and bandages. "Yes, it should hurt." Mirrim commented. "Though why you should bleed like a dragon is beyond me or even Master Healer Oldive." She commented as she finally got the last of the bandages free.

Danny saw the wound and wanted to cry. The edges of the wound were burned. The flesh was raw, tender and red with blood, green ichor swirled into it. He bit his lip, tears threatening to spill over his eyes. Tucker scooted over to the side and took Danny's other hand, squeezing it comfortingly. Then the numbweed started taking effect, but the damage had been done. Danny was in tears seeing the shape his arm and shoulder was in. As soon as Mirrim finished spreading numbweed salve on the wound she started wrapping up his shoulder. Danny just cried in silence.

"Danny, are you okay?" Valerie had poked her head in, Dash too, in the meantime.

Danny wiped his eyes. "I… I… in all the time I've been fighting… every battle I've been in… I've never been hurt like this… never…" Danny sobbed.

"You aren't the only one who's ever been hurt Danny… riders get scored every fall…" Valerie began.

But Dash interrupted her, surging forward, slipping off his jacket. "Fenton, you think you're so tough? Mr. Danny Phantom? Well I got news for ya, there are things that hurt a lot worse than a battle wound." He slipped up his shirt. A long, thin scar lanced its way across his chest and down his side. "Got that in a way that would make your hair curl. Ever been attacked with a knife? By your own father? I was in the hospital for two months and placed in foster care until DCF blackballed my mother into leaving my dad so that I could be safe." Dash glared at Danny. "And you get upset over a wound from something that isn't even alive?"

"Dash ENOUGH!" Valerie hissed. "Threadscores are traumatic by their very nature. Danny could have been eaten alive, the burn hurts like Hell, and I don't think he's ever been injured like that before." She adds.

"Path says there's something else bothering him." Mirrim added. "But I doubt its our place to pry. If there's trouble Danny, don't be afraid to call for me, or Path." She adds.

_Mirrim says that I am to speak to you if there is trouble._ A voice echoed through Danny's mind, tender, gentle.

_Who… who are you?_

_My name is Path, when you are strong enough to go outside, then we will meet in the flesh._ The voice said softly.

_Path…_ Danny whispered with his mind.

_Yes._ The gentle voice, a touch in his mind, whispered. And then the feeling was gone.

Exhausted, Danny leaned against Tucker. Mirrim pressed a vial to Danny's lips. "This will keep you out until the firelizard hatching this evening."

Danny shook his head. "No… I don't want to sleep…" He said softly. The vial retreated.

Tucker shook his head, pulling Danny into his arms for support. "Sleep Danny, for me?" He asked softly.

Danny looked into Tucker's eyes, "Stay with me…" Danny said softly.

Tucker ran tender hands through Danny's soft hair, too shy to kiss him in front of the others. "I will…"

"The whole time?"

"Yes, I promise…" Tucker said softly.

"Give…" Danny took the measured dose of fellis juice. The potion was bitter and Danny grimaced at the raw aftertaste. Then he lay down on his back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

Tucker lay down next to him, watching Danny's eyelids close, slowly, until they shut and stay shut. Tucker closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep. /He/ slept soundly, but Danny was tormented by dreams, dreams of cherry blossoms, shadowy figures, and the shape of a dragon, so huge, yet so gentle. A red orb hanging from the skies glowed evilly, then a single explosion, and a keen so horrible that it tore his heart.

Danny sat straight up in bed, panting with a nightmare. Tucker was gone, and his ghost sense let out a faint exhalation. A girl with pale white hair, and glowing emerald eyes, and dressed in a blue jumpsuit poked her head in. "Er… are you… who I think you are?" She asked, floating in.

"If you mean Danny Phantom, then yeah. Are you one of the local ghosts?"

"OH MY GOD/THE/ Danny Phantom? But… you died! Over fifteen ago you went… between?" She girl gulped. "Then that means… oh no…"

"WHAT? ME DEAD?" Danny demanded. "Wait a second… do you have a time medallion?"

"A what?"

"There's a ghost who can travel in time named Clockwork. He uses time medallions to take people with him." Danny explained.

"No, not me, I was training with my queen Ziraleth and we were learning to go between. Then we were here!" Explained the girl.

"What's your name?" Danny asked, curiously.

The girl changed back to her human form, revealing a girl with violet eyes and long black hair. "I'm Sora, Sora Manson! Nice ta' meetcha!"

Danny gawked. "Wait a second… who are your parents?"

"Um… well, my mom is Sam Manson, but my dad died, a long time ago." Sora said sadly.

Danny froze. His hackles stood up. "What was your dad's name? Was he a rider?"

"He was a bronzerider, his name was D'ton, but they also called him D'ny." Sora explained. "Mother said he was the best ghost ever, and that an accident caused him to go between. She even showed me his grave." Sora broke off. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't mention it."

"How old are you Sora?" Asked Danny.

"14." Replied Sora. "I'm not as young as I look. Besides, they don't let you on the hatching grounds until you're 13." Explained the goldrider. "I'm supposed to be staying a Weyrling until I turn 16, no matter what my queen does." She adds. "I… listen… I need to go… and so do you…" She went ghost again and dashed out the door. Just in time too, because Dash poked his head in before coming in.

"Danny, Mirrim said to bring you to the Weyrhall for the firelizard hatching and dinner." He reached to scoop Danny up in his arms and away they went.

Danny was grateful for Dash's help for once, because he didn't think he could have made it the distance from the guest weyr to the Weyrhall. After what seemed like forever Dash brought him to the Weyrhall and placed him in a seat by the fire. "There, Valerie said she wanted to talk to you later, after the firelizard hatching. By the way, I thought I saw a ghost floating away from the guest weyr."

"Yeah, she was one of the locals, come to see what was going on." Danny lied with a shrug.

"Cool."

Valerie came striding in, in her jumpsuit, hood down. Her gatekey was sheathed to her back. A woman about eighteen or nineteen came walking in behind her. "Brekke, I'm sure Danny will be fine. See? He's sitting by the fire."

"He must be a fast healer then." Brekke replied. "When F'nor gets scored it takes him weeks to recover."

Valerie smacked a hand over her forehead. "Danny's half ghost, they have faster healing speeds than we do."

"I'm still treating him like any other threadscore patient." Brekke replied. "And keep an eye on all three cells for Firehead. You don't know what to do about it. You're not from Pern either, so you don't know the right shade of yellow that the infected beaches are stained with. If any of all three crews start to develop colds or coldlike symptoms, send your firelizard to me or Sharra immediately." Brekke said gravely.

"Sure thing." Valerie rolled her eyes. "Brekke, why do I almost always end up disagreeing with you?"

"Because we're different Val." Brekke said calmly. "We grew up on two different worlds. I'll bet if I were to go to Amity Park I wouldn't survive the day."

Valerie nodded, finally reaching the hearth. She set down a tray, with thirty firelizard eggs in it, and sand piled around them. "Okay, Dash, go get Mrs. Fenton and the others. I know Jack didn't want a firelizard, but I'm sure Maddie does. And Vlad's the greedy type, he'd definitely want one."

"Wow, that's a lot of firelizard eggs." Danny exclaimed as he saw them.

"It's a queen's clutch, they have a lot of them." Valerie explained. "Thirty is actually the record. And it depends on what color flew the queen. If a brown flies the queen then there isn't a queen and very few bronzes, plus the egg count goes down. This was a pretty average bronze/queen clutch. I even heard that a blue firelizard caught a queen once, but the clutch was only about fourteen eggs, with no bronzes and only one brown."

"Why wouldn't Dad want one?" Danny asked. "I mean, he's interested in things that are far out like that."

"I asked, he didn't want one." Valerie replied. "Danny, I don't think you realize everything that your mother and father went through as gatekeepers."

"You're right, I don't." Danny said crossly.

"Danny, has anybody told you about the shadows yet?" Asked Valerie as she and Brekke took a seat.

"No, wait, I think so."

"The king of all shadows is known as Mulengro, he's an ancient and powerful spirit created from the combined malevolent emotions of all mankind, in all the dimensions. He's the manifestation of evil. Awhile ago, before you were born, he sent an army of shadows into Amity Park. Now in those days Shadows were more common than ghosts, and there were plenty of them. But there were also many, many gatekeepers. And Mulengro's forces were thrown back. However, that spurred Mulengro to come out of hiding in Yomi, known to us as the Ghost Zone. Mulengro attacked Amity Park himself. Your father lost a lot of friends, and a lot of the people who relied on him. Even worse, he blamed it on himself. Since then he's been trying to forget, everything, about his days as a gatekeeper." Valerie explained. "He hasn't transformed or even talked about it, and aside from Maddie and Vlad he wouldn't talk to any other gatekeepers."

"How do you know all this stuff?"

"Because I told her." Maddie replied. "And you weren't meant to know that Danny. It's one of the darker moments in gatekeeper history."

"How did the gatekeepers beat Mulengro then?" Danny asked, curious now.

"Because Gatekeepers gain strength from the hearts of mankind." Maddie replied as she took a seat by the fire, gazing into its depths. "Each human has two souls, the soul of light and the soul of darkness. Those two souls can be separated. The soul of darkness becomes a shadow, but it leaves the soul of light in dominance. The only problem with that is that both souls have to be in harmony for the person to be balanced. Vlad, for example, is dominated by his soul of darkness, even when they aren't separated. All the souls of light came forward at the same time, combining their power into one force, through their belief, their optimism, that mankind was inherently good and peaceful. The light was too much for Mulengro, and the shadow was reduced to a fragment of his former power. Skulker, Technus and a few other ghosts took it upon themselves to guard the fragment. It sits in a secret room under Walker's Prison. Clockwork has several Observants keeping an eye on it. And each of the evil ghosts you've fought has a different booby trap keeping the fragment in, and anyone who would steal it, out." Maddie explained.

Danny thought back to Dan Phantom. If ever there had been a shadow of his heart, Danny knew it was him. "So Dan Phantom was…"

"Your Dark Soul." Said a voice behind them. Danny turned, a familiar face at last. Skulker had been watching from the ceiling. He was intangible, but Danny could still see whre he was hiding. "Listen ghost child." Skulker said as he became visible and stood by the fire. "Your Dark Soul has been separated from yourself. None of us are sure how, but your shadow must be returned to you. All of us are looking. We think he may be a younger version of Dan Phantom. And considering the trouble that he's caused, we probably don't have much time. Our only clue is this, a shadow's first instinct is to kill its other half. That means that you're his first target. I'm sorry to hear that you're weak, injured, we need help on our end. Don't be surprised if you see some of the ghosts you've fought hanging around. I've asked them to watch you and wait for Dan Phantom to return and attack." He turned to Maddie. "You must be the ghost child's mother…"

"So what if I am?"

"I am called Skulker." Skulker replied. "You have a remarkable and resourceful son. It's an honor to meet you." And with that the hunter became intangible again and disappeared.

Valerie's queen came sailing in almost the instant that Skulker had disappeared, her throat and stomach had expanded with air as she began to hum. Valerie came running in. "They eggs, they're hatching! Quick everybody! Get over here!" From one end of the Weyrhall came Vlad. Several kitchen workers came rushing in from another door, Danny noticed a heavily disguised Lunch Lady Ghost among them, carrying platters of raw meat to feed the hatchlings.

Now that Danny looked around he spotted three others. Ember was seated not far away, dressed in some kind of blue uniform with a badge on the shoulder displaying a sapphire harp, and Spectra was wearing some kind of leather trail get up, Bertrand had disguised himself as a firelizard and was sitting happily in her lap, mrrring. Spectra hissed something in his ear and the boggart began to hum along with the scores of firelizards that were sailing in the door, landing anywhere they could find an entrance. Sam, Tucker and Dash came running from the opposite end of the Weyrhall.

"Here you go…" The Lunch Lady ghost handed Danny a bowl of meat scraps.

Vlad knelt by the fire with his own bowl of meat and explained to the children. "When an egg hatches, you feed it the meat. And yes Sam, I know you're against eating anything with a face on it but could you please bear with me at least this once. Since eating human food is unhealthy for a firelizard?"

"Whatever." Sam said with a roll of her eyes.

Other weyrfolk were crowding in, forming a dense circle around the fire. Spectra's tall frame stood at the edge of the crowd. She winked at Danny before pretending she didn't know him. Ember squeezed her way through the crowd. "Scuse me, pardon me, Harper coming through here. No, I do /not/ want a firelizard, I /want/ to get a better view!"

Ember ended up right next to Sam. "What brings you here?" Sam asked irritably.

"Guard duty." Ember hissed.

Several of the firelizard eggs were rocking. One handedly Danny scooped up a handful of meat scraps and waited.

Spectra rubbed her hands together in an all business fashion. "Okay people, let's get this party started!"

"I second that!" Ember cheered.

"Okay." Mirrim pointed to the eggs. "Everybody who's got a bowl of meat, pick an egg, any egg. There's enough for everybody in the crowd to get one. Is there anybody who doesn't want a firelizard egg? If so, take three steps back."

Most of the kitchen staff, as well as the disguised Lunch Lady, pulled to the back of the crowd. However, both Spectra and Ember, each one giving the other menacing looks, moved forwards to join the others at the fire. Jazz was a few minutes late, but slipped into the crowd to join the scramble for eggs. In the end Danny, Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Maddie, Vlad, Valerie, Dash, Spectra and Ember each got their hands on an egg.

By now Danny's egg was starting to crack. Tiny shards went this way and that. "Man, this thing looks like its ready to shake rattle and split." Danny commented as he struggled to hold onto the shaking egg. Suddenly a little gold head poked its way, hissing, out of the egg, which crumbled in his hands to reveal a queen firelizard, as bright as a sunrise, that exact same redgold as a rising or setting sun.

"Feed it! Quick!" Said one girl about a year or so older than Jazz, who was standing at the side watching.

Danny scrambled to feed the little queen. With the first bite Danny felt a rush of emotion, hunger, fear, joy, elation, all of these coursing through him. Spectra and Ember both gasped as their eggs also crumbled. The older ghost simply closed her eyes, drinking in the rush of empathic emotions that was impression. Where as Ember sat, frozen for several long moments, eyes squeezed shut in an expression that almost looked like she was in pain. Danny, personally, didn't care what either ghost did as long as they left him alone.

Sam's egg crumbled next. The goth distastefully handed the little, darkly bronze firelizard a scrap of meat. With a cry of triumph the bronze snatched up the meat. An expression of concentration was on her face as she kept feeding the firelizard until the creature's belly was distended with the food. The firelizard yawned and curled up in the crook of Sam's arm.

Tucker's egg practically exploded, a bronze as well as it screamed angrily for food. This one was lighter, almost coppery in color. Biting a lip the other boy began to carefully feed the bronze lizard, keeping up a steady stream of meat.

Dash and Valerie's eggs broke at the same time. Dash's firelizard was a deep, moonlight blue and Valerie's new firelizard was a chestnut brown. Dash blinked in surprise as he comprehended the blue lizard, then the creature began to beg for food. Once it had eaten half the bowl it had been given Dash's blue crawled up his arm and fell asleep on his shoulder. The bully eyed the creature warily. Valerie's brown snuggled against her chest, fully fed and half asleep.

Vlad's egg also hatched a brown, one a deep mahogany color. He was, by the time Danny could track the two of them, halfway through feeding it and the creature was sleepy. Danny also cast a worried eye towards his mother and Jazz. Jazz also had a blue, one that matched the color of her hairband, the creature was hissing and wiggling in Jazz' hands. "Okay, okay, I'll put you down." Maddie's firelizard was a rich russet brown and the creature seemed to be doing fine, curled up in Maddie's cupped palms. Maddie opened a pouch on her jumpsuit and carefully placed the sleeping creature inside. Leaving the pocket open so that it could peak out.

Spectra and Ember each received a green. Though Spectra's was a lot lighter in color than Ember's. "Awww…" The music ghost crooned. "Isn't she the cutest thing…" Ember asked as she put the fully fed baby forest green on her shoulder. Spectra giggled, totally unlike her and it was scary, at the baby green, who was yawning cutely.

"We'd better keep our eyes on them, I've heard that firelizards can be a lot of trouble." Spectra commented as she stroked her own green.

"Yeah, but they're cute! And when Kitty sees them she'll be so jealous." Ember said with a smirk.

Danny slowly stood from his kneeling position on the hearth. Suddenly something pounced on the half finished bowl of meat in his hands. It was a stray blue firelizard, this one with a cobalt colored hide. The creature ate the food ravenously, and Danny had to pick it up out of the bowl. In those few seconds he was holding it, Danny felt the rush of a second firelizard impression. He reeled back in reaction before placing the creature on his shoulder next to his queen firelizard. The blue quickly fell asleep, so did the gold.

"Lucky you got two of them." Commented Jazz as she peered at her own blue on her shoulder. "I like my little one though… I wonder what I should call… oh I have the perfect name, Athen."

"After Athena the goddess of wisdom." Vlad noted with a yawn. "My, all these sleeping firelizards are making /me/ sleepy. I guess I'll turn in, take a quick nap, excuse me." And he walked away.

Danny peered at his two. "Hmm… I don't have a name idea yet." He said as he gave each of them a pat.

Sam stood, careful not to upset her bronze. "And when we get back to Earth, we'll have enough bronzes and browns to breed firelizards. I mean, okay there are a lot more browns than bronzes among us, but still."

"Why'd I get a blue?" Dash wondered. "I thought blue was the 'gay' color."

"Blooie." Valerie said, giving Dash a poke.

Spectra and Ember departed, and Bertrand flew out the nearest window. The kitchen staff went back to their work. Danny yawned, still too tired. "Man, I think I"ll skip dinner and go back to bed." He yawned.

"This has been a big day sweetie." Maddie scooped up her son in her arms and carried Danny all the way back to the guest weyr. Danny was more than happy to set his firelizards down by his pillow and fall asleep. The only time he stirred was when Tucker climbed into bed with him. But Danny hardly noticed.

He also didn't notice Ember, hiding, intangible, in a corner of the guest weyr.


End file.
